Rant: I drove 45 minutes to shoot a storm front in Lawrence and my camera battery died right as the shelf cloud showed up

Avery Roberts · 2026-10-08T22:30:03.392718+00:00

So a couple Saturdays back there was a big cold front rolling through northeast Kansas, and the radar looked perfect for something dramatic. I hopped in the truck and drove about 45 minutes east to a field outside Lawrence where you get a wide open view of the western sky. I got set up around 6:30 with my tripod in the dirt, clouds started stacking up like a shelf, and I hit the power button. Nothing. Dead battery, because I left the spare charging at home on the kitchen counter like a genius. I stood there and watched the whole front roll through for maybe 20 minutes, took two blurry phone shots that looked like grey soup, then just sat in the field feeling dumb. Now I keep two charged spares in the glovebox and a paper checklist taped to the case. Anyone else keep a hard rule about checking gear before driving out, or do you all just trust your memory like I did?

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Rant: I drove 45 minutes to shoot a storm front in Lawrence and my camera battery died right as the shelf cloud showed up | Cloud Spotting Pics - Librear